The general manager of Wisconsin's largest agricultural event is stepping down to take a management position with a different organization. Mark Clarke has lead the day-to-day operations at World Dairy Expo since October 2007, as well as its for-profit subsidiary, WDE Management Inc. He submitted his
resignation to the WDE Executive Committee last week.

Under Clarke's leadership, the show's attendance, tradeshow space and other education programs have grown substantially. The dairy cattle show has also become recognized as the most important competition of its kind in the world with over 2,300 head of animals.

Mark has also been appointed recently to the Alliant Energy Center Task Force to study needed facility improvements and potential partnership opportunities to enhance the usability of the site for a wide variety of events, including World Dairy Expo.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in animal science, Clarke has previously worked as a product manager at BouMatic, and also served six years as General Manager of Pharming Health Care, Inc., a biotech transgenic facility based in DeForest. He began his dairy industry career
as an independent sales and marketing representative at ABS Global for nine years.

Leaders with WDE says plans for searching for a new general manager will be announced soon.

In addition to the Dairy Expo, WDE Management Inc. provides management services to the Dane County Fair, the Wisconsin Rural Opportunities Foundation, the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge and the Purebred Dairy Cattle Association.